Management of patients with magnetically controlled growth rods amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic
- PDF / 499,411 Bytes
- 4 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 83 Downloads / 177 Views
FORUM
Management of patients with magnetically controlled growth rods amidst the global COVID‑19 pandemic Harry Hothi1 · Stewart Tucker2 · Masood Shafafy3 · Colin Nnadi4 · Kenneth M. C. Cheung5 · Elisabetta Dal Gal1 · Martina Tognini1 · Johann Henckel1 · John Skinner1 · Alister Hart1 Received: 22 April 2020 / Revised: 9 June 2020 / Accepted: 18 June 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Introduction At the time of writing, we are all coping with the global COVID-19 pandemic. Amongst other things, this has had a significant impact on postponing virtually all routine clinic visits and elective surgeries. Concurrently, the Magnetic Expansion Control (MAGEC) rod has been issued with a number of field safety notices and UK regulator medical device alerts. Methods This document serves to provide an overview of the current situation regarding the use of MAGEC rods, primarily in the UK, and the impact that the pandemic has had on the management of patients with these rods. Results and Conclusion The care of each patient must of course be determined on an individual basis; however, the experience of the authors is that a short delay in scheduled distractions and clinic visits will not adversely impact patient treatment. The authors caution against a gap in distractions of longer than 6 months and emphasise the importance of continued remote patient monitoring to identify those who may need to be seen more urgently. Keywords COVID-19 · MAGEC rod · MCGR · EOS
Background to MCGRs MCGRs are used in the surgical treatment of children with scoliosis; the rods serve to brace the spine and minimise the progression of scoliosis as the child grows. An external magnet is used to extend the length (distract) of the rods, inline with the growth of the child; this is performed at regular intervals, usually between 1 and 6 months in a routine * Harry Hothi [email protected] 1
The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and Institute of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science, University College London, Brockley Hill, Stanmore HA74LP, UK
2
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
3
Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK
4
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Oxford University Hospital, Headington, Oxford, UK
5
Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, The University of Hong Kong, 102 Pokfulam Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
outpatient ‘distraction clinic’ visit. These rods are intended to be removed after they have been extended to their full length; these may be replaced with longer rods if the patient is still growing or the patient may undergo other treatment options if growth has stopped. In the UK, one design of MCGR has been available for clinical use, known as the MAGnetic Expansion Control (MAGEC) rod (NuVasive). Since its first use in 2009, there have been 7 design iterations of the MAGEC rod, namely: MAGEC 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.0, 2.1 and most recently the MAGEC X (first used mid-2017).
What are the known issues? O
Data Loading...
